WAYCAV Chapter 44

Before going to bed that night, Su Zhiyan mentally prepared himself.

Today, whether in class or during meals, he had made contact with Shen Nianjing no less than ten times.

This frequency was already way beyond their usual contact. There was no way he couldn’t suppress this evolving dream!

He closed his eyes confidently. Tonight, he should finally get proper sleep.

Wednesday, 9 AM. The dorm was once again shattered by Wen Bei’s howling.

“Ahhhhh!”

The noisy outburst carried out the window, competing with the winter winds outside.

“S-S-Su Zhiyan, what the hell are you doing?!” Wen Bei nearly burst into tears as he scrambled into a corner.

Su Zhiyan stood quietly by his bed staring at him, dark circles faintly visible under his pale complexion.

From Wen Bei’s perspective, he looked exactly like a half-dead ghost.

“I just wanted to see if you were awake yet.” Su Zhiyan’s tone was flat, sounding exasperated.

“Thanks to you, I was just turning over but now I’m completely awake!” Wen Bei wailed.

He was already naturally timid, and being scared by Su Zhiyan every few days like this made him feel like he was about to kick the bucket.

After his outburst, he noticed something was off.

“Why do you look so… pale?”

It was because his face was a bit pale that Su Zhiyan’s dark circles, even though they were faint, stand out more.

“It’s nothing, just didn’t sleep well. It will be fine in a few days.” Su Zhiyan explained as he went into the bathroom.

“Oh.” Wen Bei nodded, then immediately flopped back down to sleep when the bathroom door closed.

Inside the bathroom, Su Zhiyan slumped against the door in despair.

He had dreamed of Shen Nianjing again!

And it wasn’t just kissing this time…

First he was pinned down on the sofa, watching Shen Nianjing flex his fingers slowly. Probably because the movement was so slow and deliberate, the light brown mole on his index finger became especially noticeable.

Then that finger hooked a black ribbon, slowly reaching toward him…

“!” Su Zhiyan pinched himself hard, cutting off the memory.

His face burning hot, he suddenly stood up, turned on the faucet, and frantically splashed cold water on his face.

“Slap!”

He braced against the sink, staring at his reflection in shock.

The young man in the mirror had pale skin, some bloodshot in his eyes, and damp hair pushed back to reveal handsome features with slightly flushed cheeks.

Su Zhiyan froze.

Why was he so nervous?

Nervous enough to jolt awake from his dream, nervous enough to immediately roll out of bed to force himself to stay alert and calm. If not for Wen Bei’s thunderous snoring, he might still be lost in the lingering warmth of the dream, unable to escape.

Even now, he could see his own pupils trembling slightly.

It was just a dream. Not reality. A dream only he knew about.

Since yesterday’s multiple contacts didn’t work, then there was only one last possibility left – the duration of their contact.

Su Zhiyan exhaled softly, trying to think clearly.

As long as he tested today whether contact duration would affect the dreams, maybe he could be free again.

He could stop having these kinds of dreams, could just pretend this whole thing never happened. He could completely interact and make contact with Shen Nianjing normally, just like with Wen Bei.

So why was he still so nervous?

Su Zhiyan gently placed his hand over his chest. His heart was pounding.

Like being electrocuted, he suddenly jerked his hand away.

In his twenty years of emotional experience, romance was completely blank. Su Zhiyan had never even experienced the stirrings of puppy love, let alone kissing or even… more intimate acts.

This kind of dream that skipped the emotional stage and went straight into physical intimacy was simply too overwhelming for him.

The mirror in front of him fogged up with steam. Su Zhiyan raised his hand to wipe it away, seeing his own eyes that had already calmed down.

He blinked.

Maybe it was because the content of these two dreams was too shocking, completely beyond his understanding and acceptance. That must be why he was so tense.

Since his face was already wet anyway, Su Zhiyan took the opportunity to wash up. When he came out of the bathroom, he saw that Wen Bei had already gotten up and was getting dressed.

He was a bit surprised. “You’re up early? We don’t have morning classes.”

Wen Bei slowly pulled on a sweater, his face full of resentment. “I wanted to sleep, but right after I closed my eyes for a minute I dreamed of a six-foot-tall male ghost lying on top of me. After I slapped him away, I didn’t dare sleep anymore.”

“Ew~yah~” Wen Bei grimaced in discomfort, frantically rubbing his arms. Just thinking about that scene made him feel awful all over. “It was so disgusting.”

“Sleep paralysis?” Su Zhiyan raised an eyebrow.

“Probably not, or I wouldn’t have woken up so quickly.” Wen Bei jumped down from his bed and frantically shook Su Zhiyan’s arm. “I was just scared by you. Buy me lunch, I want clay pot rice!”

“Okay okay okay.” Su Zhiyan agreed absently, but his mind was stuck on something Wen Bei had just said.

Disgusting?

Would being pinned down by someone be disgusting…

When he first started having the dreams, he was only focused on his own sleep being on the verge of collapse and hadn’t thought about the “disgusting” aspect at all. Now he dreamed of Shen Nianjing’s complete appearance, and even when he was lying on top of him, their faces so close together…

He didn’t seem to find it disgusting at all.

Maybe it was because the one lying on him was a person, and a familiar person at that, while what Wen Bei dreamed of was a ghost?

Tsk. Su Zhiyan suddenly felt a bit lucky. Good thing it was a person.

Otherwise he’d definitely be disgusted to death too.

While ordering lunch, Su Zhiyan saw a message from Qu Fangming from half an hour ago.

Yesterday when he told him about bringing two friends on the weekend hot spring trip, he thought the other person would be resistant and refuse, especially since Shen Nianjing and Qu Fangming had somehow gotten into an unpleasant situation before.

But for some reason, whether out of consideration for their classmate relationship or embarrassment, Qu Fangming actually agreed, and seemed quite happy to have more people come.

He even asked several times and carefully explained the situation, but Qu Fangming remained very generous and friendly.

Su Zhiyan’s sense of distance from this person immediately decreased by several degrees.

He quite liked this kind of person who handled things properly and was generous.

Just like Shen Nianjing, who wouldn’t make people feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, getting along with such people was very comfortable.

Su Zhiyan opened his chat with Qu Fangming.

He attached several photos, plus some photos of the facilities.

Then he sent a sticker of a rabbit running wildly, looking very excited about the upcoming gathering.

Su Zhiyan didn’t quite understand. It was just a two-day, one-night trip. The stuff he needed to bring could be solved with one backpack at most. He could carry it himself very conveniently. Why bother someone else?

And what was the big connection between lifting weights and carrying luggage? Even if he didn’t go to the gym much, he could still lift heavy suitcases.

Thinking of this, Su Zhiyan squeezed his own bicep.

“…” He dropped his hand with a gloomy expression.

Maybe he should start working out too.

Shen Nianjing maintained his lean muscle very nicely. He couldn’t fall behind!

Qu Fangming was probably looking at his phone and actually replied instantly.

Su Zhiyan frowned.

He didn’t say he wanted to room with Qu Fangming.

He turned to Wen Bei. “The rooms in the hot springs for this weekend are all doubles. Let’s room together.”

Su Zhiyan thought Wen Bei would agree readily, but unexpectedly he hesitated.

Wen Bei: “…Um, the two of us?”

Su Zhiyan: “?”

“You don’t want to?” His eyes widened, his mind filled with headlines like “Former Roommates Turn Against Each Other.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.” Wen Bei looked conflicted.

Of course he was willing to share a room with Su Zhiyan. Where could he find a roommate like Su Zhiyan who didn’t snore, didn’t grind his teeth, was clean, and had a good personality?

When he was first assigned to the dorm as a freshman and met Su Zhiyan, he was over the moon!

But!

“No way.” Wen Bei said firmly. “I want to meet new people.”

“…” Su Zhiyan gave him a strange look.

Wen Bei actually didn’t want to room with him?

“Do you need to share rooms to meet people?” he asked.

Wen Bei: “…” Damn, as expected of a top student, his mind was so quick.

He was stumped by that question.

Haha.

“I want to stay up all night gaming with them, can’t I!” Wen Bei proudly lifted his head high, feeling for the first time that his hobby was incredibly useful.

“Okay then.” Su Zhiyan nodded, understanding Wen Bei’s hobby.

“You should room with Shen Nianjing!” Wen Bei suddenly suggested. “You know each other, it’s the same whoever you room with.”

Wen Bei felt this suggestion was perfectly logical, natural, and reasonable. Su Zhiyan would definitely agree.

Who knew Su Zhiyan would actually shake his head!!

“Huh???” Now it was Wen Bei’s turn to be surprised.

“I’ll room with Zhang Chang instead. We can discuss our research project together.” Su Zhiyan picked up his phone, looking through his contact list.

“N-no wait.” Wen Bei rolled his chair over and pressed down on his phone. “Why won’t you room with Shen Nianjing?”

Su Zhiyan’s whole body tensed for a moment, looking uncomfortable.

The question left his brain in complete chaos.

What if increasing contact duration still didn’t stop the dreams?

What if as the dreams evolved, he needed longer and longer contact time with Shen Nianjing?

Being together during the day was fine, but at night…

Su Zhiyan couldn’t imagine waking up and immediately seeing the person who had been pinning him down with a satisfied look in his dreams cheerfully asking him what he wanted for breakfast.

“Zhang Chang is also in Professor Yang’s research group. I can exchange ideas with him, since we’ll be in the same group next year anyway.” He came up with a perfect excuse.

Wen Bei was momentarily speechless.

No way, what the hell???

Dude, you—

He felt like he was getting injured on the job while trying to assist his buddy’s love life.

“Um…” Wen Bei racked his brains and finally thought of a reason. His tone became serious. “Classmate Su Zhiyan.”

“Mm?”

“Have you considered that we’re going out to have fun this time?”

“Yeah.” Su Zhiyan nodded, his eyes full of confusion.

“Then have you considered that Student Zhang Chang might also want to have a good time and not touch anything related to studying?” Wen Bei folded his hands and smiled politely.

Su Zhiyan: “…” He really hadn’t thought of that.

Great, his excuse wasn’t good enough.

“Fine.” He finally gave in.

Maybe the dreams wouldn’t be that excessive. He could just simply test the contact duration, and maybe it would work.

Wen Bei breathed a sigh of relief and once again proudly puffed out his chest.

“I’ll order takeout. See what flavor you want to eat.”

Su Zhiyan opened the food delivery app, but the next second Wen Bei pressed down on his phone again.

“?” He looked up. “What now?”

Wen Bei chuckled smugly, hands on his hips. “You don’t need to order. I already called for exclusive delivery.”

“…Huh?” Su Zhiyan didn’t understand what he meant.

Click.

The dorm door opened softly.

Su Zhiyan turned around at the sound.

Shen Nianjing, wearing a fresh jersey jacket, walked through the door carrying bags of food in both hands. His eyes lit up slightly the moment he saw Su Zhiyan turn around.

“Hello~” He smiled and raised the food, saying to Su Zhiyan, “Your exclusive delivery has arrived.”

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